Coin controlled lock



Jan. 12, 1932. D. c. MORGAN 1,841,045

COIN CONTROLLED LOCK Filed Nov. 12, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Donald @Moryan Jan. 12, 1932. D. c. MORGAN 1,341,045

com CONTROLLED LOCK File d Nov. 12, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 onaldUMoryan Jan. 12, 1932. D. c. MORGAN COIN CONTROLLED LOCK 4' Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed NOV. 12, 1929 Clbkorneq Jan. 12, 1932. D. c. MORGAN COIN CONTROLLED LOCK Filed NOV. 12, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Donald QMoryan g size.

20 parts.

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 STATES PATENT OFFICE DONALD C. MORGAN, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES N. VAN

' GLEAVE, OF INDIANAPQLIS, INDIANA COIN GONTRGLLED LOCK Application filed November 12, 1929.

This invention relates to coin controlled locks and-sis designed particularly with a view to its use ondoors and more particularly to closet doors. lVhile it is designed and 5 will haveits special utility as a lock for toilet doors it obviously is not limited to such uses, as it may readily lend itself to any door which is designed to be opened by the insertion of a coin or aslug of a predetermined An object of the invention is to provide a coin control-led lock for a door primarily which may be unlocked by a coin from the outside and when once unlocked and locked 15 again will display a sign such; as Vacant Figure 1 is a perspective view of thelock applied to a door,

Figure 2 is a vertical'section showing the interior of the lock,

Figure 3 mechanism with the cover shown in section,

Figure 1 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 2 looking toward the left,

Figure 5 is a section on line 4 1 of Fig.

2 looking toward the right,

Figure 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 4,

Figures? and 8 are views of details of the device, 1

Figure 9 is a View of another detail show- 5 ing the slide which conceals reading of the meter, and 1 Figure 10 is a partial view in section of the bottom of the cover into which the coins drop.

In the drawings numerals and 11 indicate plates which are secured to the opposite sides of a door 12 by any suitable means, as for example by screws or bolts 13. The plate 10 is preferably provided with projecting lugs 14 which enter enlarged sockets in the door. The screws 13 are screwed into these lugs. This provides adjustable means which adapts the lock fornse on doors of any thickness. To the plate 11'is secured a cover 0 15. This cover is held in position by means is a front view of the locking,

Serial No. 486,620.

of a hook like portion 16 which engages behind a bent out upper end 17 of the plate 11. The lower end of the cover may be secured to the plate 11 by means of screws, not shown.

A shaft 18 extends through the plates 10 and 21 is secured upon the inner end of the handle member 19 by means of screws 22 so that the outer edge of the washer engages the inner edge of the sleeve 20. A shoulder 23 and the outer edge of the washer 21 hold the handle against axial movement. A knob 24 is secured on a shaft extending out of the cover plate 15 and provides manual means for operating the door latch. On the inner end of the shaft is an arm 25 having a socket 26 in its outer end into which a lug 27 enfor operating the door latch as will be more fully described. The inner end of the shaft or bolt 18 has an arm 28 rigidly secured. or keved thereto so as to rotate with the shaft. The outer end of this arm has a laterally extending lug or screw 29. Loosely mounted upon the end of the shaft 18 adiacent the arm 28 is another arm 30. This arm may rock freely in one direction on the shaft but is prevented from moving in the opposite direction beyond a predetermined distance as it strikes the lateral lug 29. The arm 30 has an upwardly extending portion which passes up through a slot for operating a pivoted. member 71 which will be further described later. The lower end of this arm has pivotally secured thereto an arcuate rod 31 which is surrounded by a compression spring 32. The outer end of the rod 31 is held in a bore in a bracket 33. The spring 32 is biased to rock the arm 30 in a counter clockwise direction. The. lower end of the arm 28 has an arcuate rod and a compression spring identical with that secured to the arm 30 which tends to rotate the arm 28 likewise in a counter clockwise direction. A latch 34 is secured upon the plate 11 by means of brackets 35 and 36 which brackets are made by bending up a portion of the plate 11. The lug 35 has a bore through which a portion of the latch extends. The bracket 36 is provided with a roller 37 to eliminate friction so that the latch may easily move into and out of position. A compression spring 88 is positioned around the small end of the latch between the bracket 35 and a laterally extending lug 39 on the latch, this spring tending to urge the latch into door locking position. A lug or screw 40 on the latch contacts with the bracket 36 and limits the movement of the latch in the locking direction. The lever 80 is provided with a spacer member 41 made integral therewith or secured thereto having sockets into which a key may be inserted for rocking the lever, as will be further explained. Secured to the plate 11 just above the latch 38 is a bracket 42. A slide 43 is positioned to slide in the opposite ends of this bracket. This slide has an upstanding or hooked portion 44 and a small depending lug 45. A compression spring 46 positioned around the slide abuts against one end of the bracket and against the side of the lug 45 and tends to urge the slide 43 to the left, as shown in Fig. 5. The lug 45 rests against the inner end of the bracket to hold the slide from moving to the left and out of the bracket. The function of the upstanding hooked portion 44 will presently appear. The latch must be prevented from operation by means of the knob 24 except when a coin is inserted in a suitable slot. Such mechanism will now be described.

In the cabinet as shown in Fig. 1 is a slot shown at 47. The coin controlled mechanism is supported upon a plate 48. The slot through which the coin is passed and the locking mechanism consist of spaced plates 49 and 50, Fig. 3. A spacer block 51 has an innerarcuate portion 52 against which a coin 53 rests. A latch 54 is pivoted at 55 and has an end which engages a notch 56 on the spaced plates 49 and 50. When a coin as 53 is inserted in the slot and the plates are rotated in a clockwise direction the edge of the coinslides under the outer end of the latch 54 and raises it out of the notch 56 so as to permit the plates 49 and 50 to rotate in a clockwise direction. A lever 57 is pivoted also at 55. This lever has a slot at 58 into which a lug 59 on the upper plate 49 extends. Rotation of the plate 49 therefore tends to oscillate the lever 57 as the lug 59 strikes in the edge of the slot 58. The lever??? has an outer end 60 which normally tends to drop into a slot 61 on a plate 62 which is secured above the discs 49 and 50. A portion of the outer end of the lever 57 is bent down to provide a lug 60 which normally rests against the side of the coin when a coin is in the slot.

' When there is no coin in the slot the lever 57 is pressed down by means of a leaf spring 63 so that the end 60 will strike the edge of the slot 61 and prevent rotation of the discs 49 and 50. The object of the depending lug on the outer end of the arm 57 is to prevent the use of a thin lug or coin having a hole in it. If the lug is thin or perforated the depending point 60 on the arm 57 will not be lifted above the edge of the slot 61. In order further to prevent the use of thin discs in place of a regular coin, there is provided a catch member 64 having a slotted end the Width of the slot in the end being somewhat less than the thinnest coin which might be used to operate the device. If a thin piece of metal, such for example as a round piece of tin of the size of a coin should be dropped in the slot it would slip through the prongs in the 'outerend of the member 64 and drop into the box without operating the lock. The construction of the slot and the locking arrangement as a whole is such that if a coin fails to operate the device it will nevertheless drop into the box directly without injury to any of the mechanism. The discs 49 and 50 are provided at the lower left hand side with a lug 65. An arcuate rod 66 is secured to this lug and secured at its upper end to another outstanding lug 67 on these discs. A compression spring 68 is positioned around the rod 66 between the lug and a bracket 69 which is made by bending up a portion of the plate 48. The spring 68 tends to rotate the discs 49 and 50 in acounter clockwise direction. The catch member 64 is biased in a direction to hold it against the discs 49 and 50. The upper left hand side of the lower disc 50 has a lug 70 which extends up through a slot in a pivoted arm 71. This arm is pivoted to the under side of the top of the plate 48. The outer end of this pivoted member is bent up and provided with a rack 72 which engages a pinion 73 on the outer end of a roller 74.. This roller is provided withsuit able legends. such as Vacant and In use. The top of the casing 15 has a slot which is covered with a glass through which the legendsVacantandIn usemay be read when positioned therebeneath. The top of the casing and consequently the legends are positioned at about a forty-five degree angle to present the best view to a person standing before the door. The lever 71 has a cam slot 75. The lug 7 0 as will appear strikes against this cam 7 5 to rock the lever 71 on its pivot to rotate the roller 74. The configuration of the cam 75 is such that the lug 70 will rock the lever 71 only during one movement of the lug. It may freely move in the other direction without disturbing this lever. The cam 75 is such that when the lug 70 moves in a clockwise direction the roller is rotated to the In use position. The upper end 44 of the bar 43 is positioned adjacent a lug 7 6 on the lever 71 so that the spring 46 normally for the latch tends to swing the lever 71 on-its pivot to move the roller to bring the legend Vacant to view beneath the opening.

As shown in Fig. 4, the inside of the plate 48 has a lever 77 pivoted at 78. This lever has a depending catch 79 which engages a notch 80 on a disc 81 which disc is secured to and moves with the plates 49 and 50. The disc also has integral therewith an arm 81. When the knob 24 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 1, the disc 81 is rotated in' a counter clockwise direct-ion as shown in Fig. 4. Vhen so rotated the arm 81 strikes the lug 39 to retract the latch 34. When the plates 49 and 50 have been rotated in a. clockwise direction with acoin in the slot the latch 54 is raised to permit these discs to rotate their full distance. The lever 77 may then drop down and allow the hook 79 to engage the 'notch80. This prevents reverse rotation of the discs 49 and 50. The lug 7 when in this position holds the lever 71 in position to cover up the slot through which the coin is inserted. It likewise holds the roller 74 to indicate the In use position.

It maybe desirable to record on a suitable meter the number of times the door is operated. For doing this I use a well known meter shown as a whole at 82. This meter is provided with an oscillating lever 83. This lever is operated by means of a slot 84 into which the outer end of the lever extends. Oscillation of the discs 49 and 50 with each operation of the lock will oscillate the lever 83 to operate the meter through one number. The front of the cabinet is provided with a door 85 which slips within the casing and is locked therein by means of four lugs which move to engage the inner side of the casing. It is desirable under certain circumstances to allow only the person who removes the coins from the cabinet to note the reading of the meter. During normal operation of the device therefore a slide 86 is placed beneath the slot through which the meter is read. This slide is secured to the inner side of the casing by means of lugs 87 in slots 88. The lower slot is L-shaped and is so constructed that the door 85 cannot be shoved into position unless the slide is in its uppermost position, in which position it closes the slot through which the meter is read. The slide 86 cannotbe moved from behind the slot through which the register is read unless the door 85 is open and the door cannot be closed unless the slide is moved up to close the slot. The door facing has plates 89 secured thereon by bolts 90. One of the plates has a catch 91 The outer end of the catch may have a roll 92 mounted therein against which the latch strikes inclosing to elimi nate friction.

As shown in Fig. 10 the bottom of the cover has a flexible plate 93, the front edge of which is placed flush with the bottom of the door 85 to enable the operator to easily remove the coins from the box.

In operation a coin is inserted through the slot 47 and drops down to the position shown in Fig. 8, so that the edge of the coin rests against the curved su ace at 52, the lower edge of the coin on the end of the member 64 and the upper edge just beneath the outer end of the latch 54. The operator then turns the knob 24 in a clockwise direction. The arm 25 moves the lug 27 and swings the discs 49 and 50 in a clockwise direction. The edgeof the coin passing beneath the outer end of the latch lifts this latch out of engagement with the notch to permit the discs 49 and 50 to be rotated in a clockwise direction. The lug 60 rests upon the flat surface of the coin and holds the outer end 60 of the arm 5. so to allow this arm to clear the end of the slot 61. As soon as the discs 49 and 50 are rotated a predetermined distance the latcl 7 7 drops down so that the lug 79 engages the notch 80 and prevents reverse rotation of the c iscs. As the member 81 is rotated the extended arm 81 strikes the lug 39 on the latch 34 and withdraws the latch to allow the door to be opened. his the discs 49 and 50 are rotated clockwise the lug 70 passing up through the slot in the pivoted member 71 rides against a cam 75 on this pivoted memoer and swin the rack 7 2 to rotate the pinion to move the roller 74 in a position to bring the legend In use beneath the glass positioned at the top of the casing. As the pivoted member is moved to this position the lug 44 on the end of the bar 53 being urged to the left shown in Fig. 5 pres s against the rear end 76 of the lever 71 and tends to swing the lever in the opposite direction from that in which the lug 70 has moved it. The upper end of the arm 80 however is positioned in the rear of the slot 70 and a shoulder on the pivoted member 71 rests against the upper end of this arm 30 to prevent the pivoted member 71 from being swung back under the influence of the spring urged lug The door of course is opened as soon the coin has been inserted and the knob turned to release the latch. hen the door again closed the latch is pushed back by the catch on the door jamb. As this latch is pushed bac \I the lug 39 travels along the cam surface 77 of the lever 77 and lifts this lever out of engagement with the notch 80. The spring 68 then rotates the discs 49 and counter clockwise. Although the lug 70 moves back away from the cam surface the pivoted member 71 is unable to move to the position to rotate the roll 74 in the reverse direction to bring the sign Vacant adjacent the opening through which it shows. Likewise the outer edge of the pivoted member 71 extends out over the slot through which the coin is inserted. This prevents anyone from inserting a coin while the lock is in this position. Should the knob 19 on the rear of the door be moved in a counter clockwise d rection the arm 28 moves .up to bring the lug 29 ag inst the rear of the arm 80. As soon as the upper end of the arm 30 moves past the shoulder 3i on the pivoted member 71 this pivoted member is swung back to rotate t roll'l' to bring the legend Vacant to view. Likewise the arm 30 strikes against the lug 39 and withdraws the latch to'allow the door to open- As shown in 5 provide the arm 30 with acylindrica mber having a seat in the outer end key plate. key plate may be removed andone having holes at any desired position or distance apart may be substituted so as to adapt the lock for different keys. With each operation of the device the arm 83 is oscillated record the same on the meter.

It will be obvious to those s illed in the art that various changes may he made in our device without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore, do not limit myse f to wnat is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A coin controlled lock comprising a housing, a latch mechanism, a shaft operatively connected to said latch mechanism, means for locking the shaft against rotation comprising a pair of spaced discs secured to said shaft, coin retaining means comprising a fixed block and a spring-pressed pawl between said discs, a notch in one of said discs adjacent said coin retaining means, a pivoted locking pawl having its free end resting on the edge of said disc adjacent said notch and adapted to enter said notch in the absence of a coin to prevent rotation of said discs or to permit its free end to ride upon the edge of an inserted coin and clear the notch to permit rotation of said discs, substantially as set forth. I

2. A coin controlled lock comprising a housing, latch mechanism, a shaft operatively connected to said latch mechanism, means forlocking the shaft against rotation in the absence of a coin, means operated by an inserted coin to prevent locking the shaft against rotation, means for preventing rotation of the'shaft when a thin coin is inserted comprising a spring-pressed finger upon which a normal coin will rest, a slot in said finger slightly narrower than a normal coin through which a thin coin will fall, substantially as set forth.

3. A coin controlled lock comprising a housing, a latch mechanism, a shaft operatively connected to said latch mechanism, means for locking the shaft against rotation in the absence of a coin, means operated by an inserted coin to prevent looking the shaft against rotation, means for preventing rotation of the shaft when a thin coin is inserted comprising a spring-pressed finger upon whicha normal coin will rest, arslot in said finger slightly narrower than a normal coin through which a. thin coin will fall, additional means for preventing rotation of the shaft when a perforated coin is inserted comprising a stationary plate, an arcuate notch in said plate, a pivoted plate having an extension normally resting on the ends of said notch, a depending lug adjacent said extension adapted to rest against a perfect coin but adapted to enter the opening in a perforated coin, slug or the like, a spring to depress said plate to cause it to strike said stationary plate for the purpose set forth, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 25th day of April, A. D. nineteen hundred and twenty-nine.

DONALD C. MORGAN. 

